The Trump administration plans to invest $2 billion in nine companies in the field of quantum computing, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Thursday. As with previous U.S. investments under Trump in firms including Intel and US Steel, the federal government will receive minority ownership stakes in the companies in return for the investments.
Industrial technology giant IBM will receive $1 billion, the largest investment overall. IBM said it will use the money to establish Anderon, a new subsidiary based in Albany, New York, that will build “America's first pure-play quantum foundry” to produce high-tech computer chips.
Semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries will receive $375 million, also to establish a new chip foundry, and the United States will receive a 1% ownership share in the company.
The remaining seven companies, which take a variety of approaches to the developing technology, will receive smaller investments, with six receiving $100 million and one receiving $38 million. They include the publicly traded firms D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing and Infleqtion.
Funding for the investments comes from the CHIPS and Science Act signed by former President Joe Biden in 2022.
What is it? An emerging field that uses quantum mechanics to solve problems faster than the fastest supercomputers, quantum computing has received renewed attention from investors following recent technological breakthroughs. Combined with artificial intelligence, quantum computing has the potential to sharply accelerate the process of scientific research and overturn existing protocols, making it a matter of national security in the eyes of many of its advocates.
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the investments will help the United States secure leadership in the field. “These strategic quantum technology investments will build on our domestic industry, creating thousands of high-paying American jobs while advancing American quantum capabilities,” he said in a statement released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency within Commerce that promotes industrial competitiveness.
Still, some tech analysts worry that the investments may be too risky for public funds, adding to general concerns about the federal government under Trump getting too involved in private industry. A senior Commerce official told The Wall Street Journal that the department is making multiple investments to spread out the risk, and acknowledged that it could take many years for any of the investments to pay off.